Davina – Everyday Vegans

Davina works for an animal welfare charity and has two teenage children. She has been vegan for years and is passionate about converting others to a cruelty-free diet.

We asked Davina about her experiences with veganism, from personal interactions with family and friends to raising her kids to understand her morals.

First things first- Why are you vegan?

Because of the intense cruelty of factory farming. I don’t want anything to suffer or die if it doesn’t need to.

What positive/negative interactions have you experienced that you would attribute to your vegan lifestyle?

The positives are when I have influenced others to make a change, or when I meet other vegans. The negative experiences: family and friends making a joke about it, it has caused arguments in my family. I have had my car graffitied over my vegan stickers, and been made to feel ostracised.

What’s your favorite food?

Probably Linda McCartney sausage rolls.

Have you raised your kids vegan? How did you find it?

My ex-husband was a meat eater, both children were raised Omni. When I separated I would provide mostly vegans with eggs and fish for them at home.

They ate meat at their dad's. My daughter became vegetarian at 12, vegan at 15, and still vegan at 18. My son is omni and his dad makes a huge thing of it.

I know my son inside would like to be vegan, but his dad isn’t supportive, so my son won’t really voice an opinion with him.

Do you think it is ever too late to go vegan?

It’s never too late. After 20 years of talking to my dad, he finally had a light bulb switch on at age 68 and is now vegetarian but drinks soy and eats bio cheese.

What advice would you give someone who is thinking of cutting animal products from their diet?

My best advice is to make the exact meals you loved before, just veganism it, every meal can be veganised; bangers and mash, lasagna, etc. Find a meat replacement that you like, it’s trial and error.

Also, be kind to new and transitioning vegans. I have turned people vegan and told them to join (a particular group on social media) and they often leave the group shortly after because they get attacked.

Vegans, be kind, we were mostly all Omni once!